Re: friends really need to be somewhat close at hand to develop.

Yours is precisely the attitude we are wondering about. The "move on" syndrom. And yet, so many people are lonely, and aching for friends - odd, isnt' it? What is that poem?

Make new friends
keep the old
some are silver
the others are gold...

It all boils down to good friends are hard to find. If you have one, it matters not how far or close your are in geography...the human spirit knows no such limitations.

I believe that true friendship, many times, not always, reaches back lifetimes, not years. So in the shifting world we live in, we don't really care about the dozens and dozens of people we meet everyday...unless those relationships have deep roots, or some profound event that bonds you to them.